Ethics
' |image= |series= |production= 40275-216 |producer(s)= |story= Sara Charno & Stuart Charno |script= Ronald D. Moore |director= Chip Chalmers |imdbref=tt0708709 |guests=Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa, Brian Bonsall as Alexander Rozhenko, Caroline Kava as Toby Russell |previous_production=Power Play |next_production=The Outcast |episode= TNG S05E16 |airdate= 2 March 1992 |previous_release=Power Play |next_release=The Outcast |story_date(s)=Stardate 45587.3 |previous_story=Power Play |next_story=The Outcast }} =Summary= In a storage bay, Worf is hit by a barrel that falls from the storey above. His spine is damaged, resulting in paraplegia. Dr. Crusher consults a specialist, Dr. Russell, who suggests a risky, possibly life-threatening, experimental, untested procedure that may allow Worf to regain all of his mobility; essentially, they clone his spine, extract the original and replace it with the new one. However Dr. Crusher does not think the risk is worth it. Dr. Crusher recommends implants that transmit neural signals which would allow him to regain about 60% of his mobility. However, Worf does not like the idea of being an injured warrior nor "lurching through corridors" so he considers his life to be over. Dr. Russell volunteers to assist in treating injured colonists whose transport had struck a mine. Crusher finds that she has used an experimental drug on a patient that subsequently died, and quietly but strongly reprimands Russell for not using proven methods first. Worf asks Commander Riker to assist him in performing a ritual suicide, but Riker does not wish to help kill a friend. Riker points out that it is his son, Alexander, that the ritual states should assist. Unable to ask his son, Worf decides to risk undergoing the untested spine replacement procedure, against Dr. Crusher's advice. The operation proceeds as planned until Worf loses synaptic function, resulting in cardiac arrest and apparent brain death. In tears, Dr. Crusher informs Troi and Alexander of his demise, but minutes later they are pleasantly surprised as Worf revives due to the redundancies built into his body that back up even his neural functions. Later Dr. Russell enters Dr. Crusher's office, and Crusher tells her that while she is delighted that Worf will recover, she is horrified by Russell's immoral methods of putting her own interests in collecting research data and gaining recognition for herself above patients' interests and lives. Russell silently leaves the room. Back in his quarters, Worf relearns to walk, and accepts help from Alexander in mastering the use of his legs once again. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # How do Klingons undergoing ritual suicide prevent the backup synaptic system saving them? Perhaps the knife is shoved into the brain stem. Changed Premises # The surgical team wearing surgical gloves despite the presence of a sterile field. The gloves are a precaution, in case of sterile field failure. # Worf having red blood, despite Klingons having purple blood in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country. Purple blood Klingons may have been a small group, created by a genetic anomoly. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 4:41 am: Instead of this genotronic replicator, why not use Worf's last transporter trace to repair his spine? Run him through the transporter like they did Picard in Lonely Among Us and Dr. Pulaski in Unnatural Selection.It may not be possible to use the transporter in this way, especially as Worf is lying down, while Picard and Palaski were standing up. # John A. Lang on Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 9:35 pm: I have a hard time believing that with all the sophisticated equipment on the Enterprise that they don't have a device that can detect the EXACT location of a leaking barrel. Not to mention LaForge's VISOR! Shouldn't THAT be able to detect a leak? The episode called "Masterpiece Society" seems to think so! kerriem on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 6:16 pm: If the stuff that was leaking was a gas, then it`s entirely on the cards that the leak could`ve been very small, even microscopic, and hence extremely difficult for even sophisticated sensors to find unless somebody got right in up there with the sensor device. # John A. Lang on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 4:49 am: I certainly hope thoranide is non-toxic. Everyone walks into a room where a gas (possibly lethal) is leaking without a filter mask! If it isn't toxic, they should've been able to locate the gas by sniffing around. Thoranide may be odourless. # Chris Diehl on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 11:42 am: I don't think it's all that great that Worf considers killing himself. Why is there even a conflict about whether or not he should do it? He shouldn't. On the human side, his friends and family would miss him, and he has worth beyond his ability to fight. On the Klingon side, there is no honor in a warrior running from adversity or abandoning his comrades for his own sake. LUIGI NOVI on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 8:26 am: The episode makes it clear that Klingon culture views a warrior's life over when he can no longer be a warrior, and considers ritual suicide an honorable way to die, and not a form of "abandonment." # dotter31 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 9:39 pm: Is there a reason that cargo in the cargo bay could not be secured magnetically? (such cargo that magnetic fields would not affect it) ccabe on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:00 am: Provided it dosen't contain iron, steel, nickel, cobalt or a similar material. And that is will not be moved. In short: no. (Although, you could alter the gravity generators in the ship.) # Torque, Son of Keplar on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 6:58 pm: Why didn't Mr. Crusher help get the Enterprise out of the mess it was in? mr crusher on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 8:01 pm: its been about 5 hours since ive seen this episode but it could be because 1) Mr Crusher wasn't in this episode and 2) The Enterprise was never in any "mess" in this episode. Torque, Son of Keplar on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:26 pm: Mr. Crusher controls space and time, don't give me he wasn't there excuse… Mr Crusher on Thursday, July 27, 2006 - 2:28 pm: at this point in the series he was at Starfleet Academy, not living with the Traveler. LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, July 27, 2006 - 8:29 pm:''Ah, but he could travel back to this point in the series.....''Seniram 16:20, June 1, 2016 (UTC) Where does it say that the Travellers could travel through time? =Notes= =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation